Just being me...

New England mixed media folk artist for over 20 years and recent children's book illustrator and designer of children's couture with a whimsical appeal...i'm a busy girl who also loves to tinker with decorating in my spare time... a vintage kind of girl who loves all things a bit tattered and worn at the edges... inspired by nature, my home is my sanctuary... muffins baking, sipping cream with a dash of tea while admiring a lace laden table adorned with a tiny vase of violets...tea parties with my grandchild in a garden filled with fairies...hands covered in splotches of robin's egg blue and pale shades of pink paint as I bring a salvaged treasure back to life and give it a new home...a creative spirit whose great passion is in bringing my life to art with a childlike heart. This is a magical and sacred journey and it is meant to be shared...one glorious and sometimes sorrowful song to sing...it is my soul's cry...to radiate joy in all that I do and inspire others to follow their bliss...i am bertie and this is what makes me bloom.

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My Wildberry Art

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Well...I have just the most remarkable news to share with you! I mean, reeeeallly, exciting, change your life, kind of news and am going to bust my buttons if I don't get it out! Now, that is a scary thought! For the past year or so, I have been really stretching myself out of my comfort zone, artistically, that is. I have been a primitive folk artist for many years and although I still enjoy it, I was feeling like I needed a new dose of creativity and inspiration to give me a kick in the pants. So, I began to explore my inner child and invited her to come out and play and see what would happen...everyone who knows me knows that I really am just a big kid at heart, anyway. I am much happier living in my little fantasy world than being a mover and shaker in the realm of "reality." I love to see the world through rose colored glasses and love to approach life with a childlike heart and so, creating art from that place was very natural to me and my imagination went wild. I began to paint what I imagined..in vibrant color and whimsical design and my childhood fantasies soon took shape...mermaids, angels and fairies...children with pudgy faces and bright eyes that smile at the world around them. I have been having so much fun, exploring this new genre and it has been well received in the galleries that I am in..but, nothing prepared me for what has been a dream of mine since I can remember to come true and fall right into my lap, as if out of the sky! I was doing a primitive show with my line of furniture, dolls and signs and just happened to bring a sample of my new work...just in case. Well, good thing I did for a wonderful woman looked at my samples and asked me if I would be interested in illustrating children's books! I said I had always dreamt of doing just that and it turns out, she is a publisher and we are now in the works of my illustrating not one...but, A SERIES of children's books based on my characters! I am beyond the moon on this one!!! We have the first book already underway and two more to follow and I just pinch myself every time I think of what is to come and feel like I am dreaming...I have created a new website and blog to showcase this new art as it is quite different from my primitive designs and I hope you will check it out at http://www.queenbartistry.homestead.com/ and also take a peek at my other blog: http://www.queenbartistry.blogspot.com/ I will of course, be continuing my primitive portraits, furniture, signs, etc. and have some exciting prospects under way in the near future as we are looking into doing a catalog of our most popular designs...I will keep you posted..so, looks like bertie is going to be a very busy little bee and will be pinching herself for quite some time! I guess I really am dreaming as this has been a dream of mine that is finally coming true...how wonderful that I get to be fully awake during it all!!